


Winter Sound

by 221bdisneystreet



Category: Gravity Falls, Over the Garden Wall (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Body Horror, Canon Divergence, Emotional Manipulation, Frostbite AU, Gen, Gnome King Wirt, Hurt/Comfort, Major Character Injury, Near Death Experiences, No Romance, Older Pines Twins, Post canon, Profanity, Psychological Trauma, Rating May Change, Siblings, Violence, kind of? but i'm going to tag it that just in case
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-19
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-05-02 10:42:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5245313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/221bdisneystreet/pseuds/221bdisneystreet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The helpless cries of a child, abducted long ago.<br/>The despair and fury of a king, seeking to rescue what he has lost.<br/>The dark and seductive chords of a monstrous lullaby, luring victims to a demise worse than death itself.<br/>Even when a pair of adventurous twins come to explore the woods, the same foreboding warning floats in the chilling air: “Beware the Beast.”</p><p>Enter the forest, and listen, if you dare, to the sounds of winter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Dawn of Another Winter

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting in my laptop since May, but recently I've gone around to finally editing and posting what I've written so far. I'm not quite sure how long this story will be at this point, but it's gonna be long. And it's gonna be badass (I hope). 
> 
> This AU belongs to @lunaartgallery who gave me permission to write a fic for it! I give her my thanks!

Winter is coming.

_Beware..._

The woods are cloaked in a veil of fog and coated in a white blanket. Snowflakes dance in the air like rose petals.

_He has awakened._

A frigid breeze whistles softly through the trees that stand majestically, despite being stripped of their leaves.

_He lurks among the trees, and he’ll consume your soul. Run. Before it’s too late..._

Their naked, rustling branches scratch at the empty air and murmur the ominous warning once more.

_Beware the Beast._

* * *

 

The king runs swiftly and frantically through the trees. He stops and pants, his breath a swirling wisp and his chest heaving from fatigue. His navy cloak flutters behind him in grand, graceful sweeping motions. The bitter wind ruffles his red pointed hat, and the tiny snowflakes sprinkle his tousled brown hair like ashes from a funeral pyre. His cheeks and nose are red from the stinging air, and his eyes dart around like those of a keen fox hunting for its prey. He hisses through clenched fangs as he clutches onto the cape’s edges. How long has he been running? Even he is not quite sure. He still has time, though. Time before he--

The soft sound of beating wings tingles in his ears. He spots a bluebird approaching and hovering in front of him.

“Did you find him?” the king asks breathlessly.

“No sign of the Beast,” the bluebird answers, dejectedly shaking her head.

“Dammit,” the king growls in frustration under his breath, his grip on the fabric tightening. “It’s been four years. Where could he possibly be? How hard can it be to find him?!”

“Well, who knows? M-maybe we’ll be lucky this winter,” the bluebird replies in a consoling tone. Despite her reassurance, her voice falters slightly with uncertainty at her words. The king’s eyes burn with quiet fury as he stares at the snow-covered forest floor.

“I can only hope so...”

“I’ll keep searching the forest. Maybe the Beast is out there this time,” the bluebird says. The king nods, still looking down. The bluebird departs back into the trees, her fluttering fading away as she flies further and further away.

Silence drapes over the clouded, frozen wasteland once again, save for the gusts of winter morning air.

The king looks up into the gray and dreary sky. His fingers loosen around his cloak, and his eyes soften with sorrow. Sniffling, he can feel the tears stream down his face like the snowflakes descending from above. The sky cries with him, but it bemoans the forest that has temporarily shed its life away until it is reborn in the spring. The king, however, mourns for something else.

The loss of someone precious.

Someone who, unlike the forest, may never return.

The memories flood into his mind once more, and his heart drowns in unbearable, all-consuming guilt.

* * *

 

_I still remember..._

The king remembers his younger brother’s ringing laughter and mischievous grins. He remembers him rolling around happily in the snow or climbing the barren trees during the winter. He remembers him burrowing in piles of leaves during the autumn or humming silly melodies as he picked tiny blossoms during the spring. Seeing his little brother’s innocent face light up with cheerfulness would always bring comfort and joy to the king.

But that was before that tragic winter night. Four years ago…

_I still remember..._

The king remembers his bruised, defeated body crumpling to the ground. The Beast’s gloating laugh echoing in the evening twilight. His brother fearfully crying out the king’s name as he was whisked away.

Gone.

_I still remember..._

The king remembers rushing through the forest and desperately screaming out his brother’s name, only to be answered by silence. He remembers his distraught sobbing shattering the glass-like serenity of dusk. He remembers grasping his injured arm and watching the blood seep from his wound and taint the dove-white snow. He remembers how the scorching, visceral pain in his body meant little to him compared to the agonizing distress that stabbed him like a double-edged sword.

_Remember..._

No longer have the king’s days been filled with delight but instead with despair since that horrific, nightmarish kidnapping. Everyday, his failure to protect the brother he cherishes so dearly torments him relentlessly. With each passing hour, the king grieves and blames himself for his foolishness and weakness. Regret has certainly left excruciating scars in his heart. Scars that time itself cannot heal.

Every winter, the king’s pursuit for his lost brother has yielded nothing.

And every winter, the king _still_ remembers.

* * *

 

His tears still trickle down his cheeks, his mind plagued with grief. The king gazes solemnly into the bleak winter sky.

“Please be okay…” he tearfully chokes out his unheard plea, a melancholic whisper.

A brief pause.

“Please. Please come home...”

Another pause.

“I-I miss you. I miss you so much.” His words crack with anguish.

Only the wind responds. He lets out a heavy-hearted sigh.

_I hope you’re out there._

He wipes away the tears. Determination slowly bubbles up within him, struggling to triumph over his sadness.

_I’ll...I’ll find you. I’ll save you._

His eyes, glinting with that newfound streak of perseverance, settle on the withered trees ahead of him.

_And I’ll make him pay for what he did to you. To the both of us._

The king sprints onward and disappears into the fog. Only his footsteps remain as lingering evidence of his presence. The falling snow hastily tries to cover them, as if nothing has disturbed the stillness of the woods.

But the snowflakes are not fast enough.

In the distance, a shadow dislodges itself from one of the trees and grins maniacally. And just like that, it disappears as quickly as it arrives.

Winter has come.

* * *

 

The stars twinkle and blink like diamonds in the ebony night sky, and the moon partially splashes the marble-colored snow with its luminous glow. The flakes still rain down as the sky continues to lament for the lifeless forest. Two muffled voices puncture the fragile nighttime repose like icicles.

Camouflaging almost perfectly with the darkness, the Beast’s slender, towering figure slithers behind the blackened trees. The crisp wind weaves through his twisted antlers and ripples his leafy cape. His white eyes gleam brilliantly like pearls as he listens intently to those distant voices. His mouth coils into a fanged smirk.

“They’re coming.” He almost sings the words in a mellifluous yet devious tone.

Two voices, scattered somewhere in the woods. An excitable, chattering female one followed by a frantic, stern male one. The Beast’s spidery claws twitch slowly but eagerly.

“Yes, excellent,” he snickers. “Soon, they’ll be mine.”

He looks behind him to another silhouette stalking nearby in the trees. Silver moonlight faintly traces the young shadow’s gnarled, branch-like horns that drip with melted snowflakes. Something in his hand glimmers brightly like a candle flame. The Beast purrs, “It’s time for another hunt to begin, my pet. You know what to do.”

A pair of iridescent eyes flash with demented exhilaration, and a childlike but deranged giggle chimes in the air like thousands of tiny bells.

“Yes, master…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *insert iconic Game of Thrones quote four years late because I'm so original and subtle like that
> 
> Yeah, the first few chapters will be a little slow in terms of plot and kind of on the short side, so please bear with me. I promise it will get more interesting soon.
> 
> There won't be any shipping or romantic relationships in this story. I simply want to keep this as a fantasy story with sibling bonds, badassery, and many feels. Sorry to my readers who liked my prompt from before; I hope you're all not disappointed. Also, I will either change the current tags or add new ones as I write more.
> 
> Thanks to the original artist once again for letting me use this AU, and thanks to some of my Tumblr friends for the helpful editing suggestions! You all are awesome. :D
> 
> Please leave a comment to let me know what you think! I'd love to hear what you guys have to say! If you want news about chapter updates, check out my Tumblr (221bdisneystreet.tumblr.com). Since I have chapter two written out already, I expect it to be posted sometime before finals in a couple weeks, depending on the editing process. Stay tuned once more! (DUNDUNDUN)


	2. So Peculiar, Yet So Familiar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies to any readers out there for the huge delay! I had to make a lot of major revisions to this chapter, so re-writing and editing took much longer than I expected. I hope you all enjoy it, though!

It is silent.

Then, it is not.

“Hey, wait up!”

The king stops, startled by the distant sound of a strained, tense male voice.

“Catch me if you can!”

A female voice, cheerful and almost ethereal, follows.

“Get back here!”

“Then walk faster, you slow poke!”

The king stealthily darts behind a nearby tree and leans against the trunk, his fingers digging into the rough, cold bark. He breathes steadily, his perfectly still figure buried in the darkness.

The voices are approaching.

The corners of his cape dance slowly as the whistling wind conducts their twists and turns, remnants of movement that have yet to escape the breeze’s spellbinding music and mirror his stationary self. _Faster_ , he beckons. There's a nervousness present in his muscles, tension brought about by something new. Something different. The cape will eventually complete its waltz, but he feels that it's not fast enough.

They’re closer.

The king cranes his head cautiously and curiously peeks out from the side. His cape now hangs motionless, freed from the wind’s musical enchantment.  

They’re clearer.

A patch of white light brightens the clearing, dimly illuminating the surroundings. The harsh, brilliant glow momentarily blinds his eyes, but the sounds continuously bombard his ears.

They’re louder.

The king watches.

They’re here.

* * *

 

“Mabel, could you slow down?! If you keep running off like that, we’ll just end up getting more lost!” the boy shouts tiredly, huffing with exasperation. He jogs towards the girl waiting ahead of him, her feet bathed in the glowing circle that his flashlight has painted on the ground. Petite flakes sparkle for a fleeting moment as they drift into that window of light. As he bends over in exhaustion, the girl shoots a playful smile as bright as the flashlight itself.

“Oh come on, Dipper!” she counters easily, ever the optimistic one in contrast to his own practical self. “I’m sure we’re going in the right direction. We’ll be back at the Mystery Shack soon enough!”

“This isn’t really how I wanted to start off my winter break. Getting lost in the dark in subzero temperatures and possibly dying from hypothermia,” the boy grumbles, shivering slightly at the wind’s icy touch lashing against his cheeks. The fact that it is nighttime does not make the situation any better.

“That’s just ‘cause you keep on complaining and being Mr. Dipper Downerpants. Loosen up a bit, bro-bro! We’re gonna be fine,” the girl assures cheerfully. Still mostly unconvinced by her reassurance, her brother shakes his head.

“Easy for you to say. You’re all bundled up.” He flashes his light on her baby-blue sweater with a large snowflake stitched in the center and the pink-striped scarf wrapped snugly around her neck.

“I told you to wear the sweater I knitted for you last Christmas instead of that jacket of yours. You should have listened to me this time,” the girl sulks, innocently puffing her cheeks in slight disappointment. She nuzzles her chin deeper into her scarf, the wool flecked with crystalline powder. The dangling star-shaped charms of her earrings clink faintly, briefly caught in a rush of cold air.

“Ugh, okay okay. You don't need to rub it in,” the boy groans. “Besides, I don't get what's wrong with me wearing this.” Admittedly, his sister is right once again. Her cozy, hand-stitched sweater would have been ten times warmer and more suitable to wear in this weather. Still, in spite of the cold, he is content with his jacket. To him, it’s comfortable enough and has suited him just fine...until maybe right now. He pulls his navy jacket closer to his chest and brushes off the snow on his sleeves.

“Well, for one thing, it's not a sweater. Look, if you DO end up not making it out of here alive, I'll have your headstone read ‘Here lies Dipper, who could have worn a sweater made by the bestest twin sister he’s ever had instead of freezing his ass off,’” the girl jokes with an air of feigned haughtiness.

“Mabel, you're my ONLY twin sister,” he retorts, deadpan.

“Exactly,” she proudly grins, poking the boy’s nose with a gloved finger. He twitches at her touch and frowns. As the girl dashes up to the tree behind her, the boy simply sighs and tucks the flashlight under his arm before rubbing his hands, silently thanking himself for remembering to wear gloves. Scanning the darkened landscape, his eyes glimpse from the trees clothed in black to the floating snowflakes to the full moon plastered in the starry night sky. Something feels strange about this part of the woods, but he and his sister have explored the entire forest before. At least, that is what he believes. Self doubt creeps into his mind, compelling him to glance back at his sister with uncertainty.

“Have we ever been to this part of the forest, Mabel?” the boy asks, a mix of concern and wonder in his tone.

“Maybe,” the girl shrugs nonchalantly. “Hey, Dipper, look! I’m a carousel!” She grabs onto the trunk and whirls around it. With each reverberating laugh, her breath, visible from the chill, manifests as a thin spiral that rapidly dissipates into the winter air.

“Pfft, I’ve seen better,” the boy teasingly scoffs before he shifts back into seriousness. “Come on, this isn’t the time to be joking around.”

“Hmph! Four years later and you’re still no fun!” the girl pouts, scowling at the boy. He smirks and rolls his eyes, while the girl crosses her arms and sticks her tongue out. A comfortable silence settles between them, allowing the boy a brief moment to contemplate how far they have come. Both now at the age of sixteen, he knows that she is more mature than before, but even after their life-changing summer in Gravity Falls, she has not lost the youthful enthusiasm and positivity of her twelve-year-old self. That aspect of her is something he’s certain will never change. The girl hums patiently as she aimlessly wanders and examines the crumbling bark on the trees, and the boy habitually shines his flashlight around. While the space between them is filled with the warmth of companionship, the same cannot be said about the air surrounding them. Their friendly banter has failed to dispel the cold, lingering darkness that the night has brought along. The trees seem to snake up from the ground, deforming the bizarre yet pleasant forest from their memories into an endless labyrinth. A chill runs down his spine, but he is unsure if it is because of the cold or the fear sneaking into his body.

Fear that something is stalking them.

Something is watching them.

Or maybe not _something_ but rather…

 _Someone_.

* * *

 

As he observes the newcomers, he can finally attach the nameless voices to discernible faces.

“Mabel, you’re my ONLY twin sister.”

“Exactly.”

The king’s eyes remain fixated on the girl as she taps the boy’s nose and prances to the tree behind her. Despite her unusual sweater, her wavy brown hair, and glittering earrings, something feels strangely familiar about her. Her radiant smile that shimmers when light strikes her beaming face.

_In spite of its glaring brightness, the sun fails to outshine the wide grin on his face as he frolics and swims in the lake of golden daffodils, the afternoon breeze gently ruffling his hair._

Suddenly, a desperate twinge of pain begins to course through his entire being.

Her airy, upbeat voice that tinkles like crystals on a chandelier.

_“Roar, I’m a tiger!” he yells as he pounces onto the king’s leg and hugs it tightly. His voice gushes with vibrating jubilance._

The comparisons are easier to see now.

Her fairy-like exuberance and restless optimism surges like a cascade into the clearing.

_“It’s raining sunsets!” he exclaims excitedly as he flings handfuls of crimson and orange leaves into the sky. The king gazes with fondness as the leaves idly glide around him in a serene, soundless aria._

The flashbacks are coming on stronger.

“Hey, Dipper, look! I’m a carousel!” the girl laughs, twirling around the tree.

_“Look at me! I’m a bunny!” he giggles as he skips among the pine trees. Breathtaking rays of sunlight seep through the slits in the canopy above, perfectly complementing his joyous laughs._

They’re coming on faster.

Her presence that introduces a tender, soothing warmth caresses him like sunlight.

_“I’ll always love you, big bro.”_

Just then, his mind howls with equal but overwhelmingly torturous amounts of agony and hope.

It’s all too much.

Too much…

The king quickly twists his head back and gasps. As his body sinks down to the ground, he chokes back the quiet sobs lodged in his throat, his eyelids soaked with tears. He buries his face in his arms, biting his lip to further restrain his wordless cries from breaking free.

_How?_

The simple question stings him like a slap to the face. How could this girl evoke such an agonizing response from him? This girl whom he knows nothing about…

“Same ol’ trees. Gravity Falls really hasn’t changed much, huh?” she pipes up.

Even though he cannot see her in his huddled position, he can almost picture his brother standing on the other side of the clearing.

On the other side of the shadows between them.

How many times has he dreamt of reuniting with him? How many times has he anticipated crossing those shadows and finally reaching out to him? How many times has he wished to hold him in his arms again?

And how many times has his prayer been so far yet so impossibly close to being answered?

If he can just turn around...

But when he does, the image of his brother vanishes, the girl now standing in his place.

 _She’s just like him_.

She’s just so much like him that the mere thought threatens to tear his soul apart.

_Him…_

The younger brother he has loved so dearly. The only family he has left. The king cracks a solemn, wistful smile. What a cruel trick the universe has decided to play on him.

“Hey, Dipper, this tree feels kind of...sticky.”

The girl’s confused tone bounces against the trees.

“Maybe it’s sap?”

Footsteps crunch in the snow.

“I don’t know. Wait, I think it’s dripping from this...weird hole?”

“What? Let me get a closer look.”

A second later, the girl’s frightened scream splinters the solitude of nighttime. The king cringes as the sharp noise of the flashlight clattering to the ground blasts through the forest like the fierce boom of a cannon. Shrouded again in eternal blackness, he can only wait for his vision to readjust to the sudden transition. Foreboding anxiety seems to emanate from where he has last seen the pair clearly, the intimidation as palpable as his own panic.

Something is very, very wrong.

“Holy shit!” the boy exclaims, terror in his voice.

The girl stutters, “A-a face?!”

 _Face?_ The king’s head snaps in the direction of their voices in shock. _Oh no._

And then, as if on cue, the sinister lullaby trills faintly.

_No..._

* * *

 

_Tralalala, tralalala…_

The song echoes through the trees and ricochets off invisible walls of air. Despite the ample space surrounding the twins, the boy flinches with a dreadful sense of claustrophobia lurking into his body, as if they’re caged in a cacophonous prison.

“Mabel, did you hear that?!” he hisses, mentally berating himself for his cowardice. He searches wildly in the dark for the fallen flashlight, occasionally distracted by his vain effort to pinpoint the source of the ominous melody.

“I-I think I did,” the girl whimpers, trembling nervously. “Someone...singing?”

Hearing the fright permeate through the lull of her carefree voice instantly triggers the boy’s protective instincts. Even though he’s just as daunted as his sister, he’s nevertheless prepared to defend her from whatever unknown danger is prowling in the forest. With newfound adrenaline pulsing through his veins, his fingers brush against a solid surface and hastily wrap around the flashlight’s plastic handle. He tries to give it a good shake, internally swearing when the light refuses to return.

The operatic chanting swells into a tiny crescendo, a hint of distinguishable clarity in the words this time. It’s a seemingly harmless tune, a jaunty verse that, despite its apparent innocence, sets the alarmed boy further on edge.

_Tralalala, tralalala..._

_Chop the wood to light the fire._

He shakes the flashlight again. Still no luck.

“What the hell?” he mutters, squinting uselessly to look past the black veil enveloping the trees.  “Who else would be out here?”

The girl grabs onto his arm and whispers, “A-another...monster, maybe?”

The boy gulps, tension filling his lungs. “If only we had the journals…” The journals. If they were still in his possession, he might have been able to uncover some helpful clues scribbled in their tattered pages. Clues about what creature could possibly be attributed to this enigmatic singing and what potential defense tactics could be used against such a monster.

But the journals exist no longer. Instead, he is armed not with any useful information or quick-witted strategy but with a broken flashlight.

The haunting lyrics quickly blur into oblivion, the music diminishing as if the song’s prelude is also its finale. The girl’s grasp on her brother’s arm tightens. “Dipper, I-I’m scared. That was really creepy…”

Rattling the flashlight once more, he triumphantly grins when the bulb flickers back to life. With the revived glow sparking a hint of bravery within him, he darts the light around sporadically before turning to his sister, who bites her lip in obvious distress but appears unharmed, much to his relief.

“I-it’s fine, Mabel,” he consoles her with a shaky tone. “We just gotta stay close and be careful.” He draws in a quick breath, finally mustering up some semblance of courage. “Let’s hurry. Hopefully we can find our way back soon. And if not, we’ll just...have to find someplace safe to rest.”

The girl meekly nods, and the boy sighs. He’s not as good as his sister when it comes to comforting others, but to him, even a flimsy shred of solace is better than none at all. “Okay, come on. We better get going.”

“R-right,” the girl stammers, struggling to infuse a trace of her usual cheer and confidence into her response. The boy marches on, heading in a different direction than they have initially planned; however, he does not notice how his sister, still clinging to his arm, has stolen a brief glance back.

And how she has seen something flit by in the shadows.

* * *

 

Their footsteps fade away until the forest is once again smothered in voiceless, obsidian darkness. The once hopeful light, now a measly speck shoving its way through the vast blackness in a battle between dual opposites, scampers around in the distance before it disappears almost spontaneously. The king curses himself, his mind incessantly demanding why the hell he hasn’t gone after the two of them. Why he is still hiding behind nighttime’s curtain, his legs paralyzed and shackled to the snow by some phantom force. Despite the unspoken frustration chaotically blaring in his head, the winter sound encloses him in a quiet and calm bubble. A grim thought, however, swiftly manages to pierce that fragile bubble and harshly tug him out of the stillness.

The thought of the Beast coming for them.

_Those two..._

The king’s panicked breathing grows more shallow and rapid. The familiar baritone consumes his mind like an unwelcoming reprise, and fragments of the Beast’s silhouette taunt him. His grotesque crown of tangled antlers. His eyes that glint only with avaricious hunger and malicious glee. His swishing cape crafted from suffering and grief.

_They’re in danger._

The girl’s shrill scream, although long gone, still rings in his ears as if it were happening now and nearby. He can almost imagine, almost _see_ , the Beast materializing in front of the children, the girl looking back as her pleading, terrified eyes lock onto the king’s horrified ones before the Beast engulfs them.

_S-she’s in danger…_

His body quakes with violent, uncontrollable tremors of fear. Is this how he will act when, or _if_ , fate deliberately lures him to the Beast? Will he be ultimately helpless in the face of his enemy once more?

_“Help!”_

The tearful cry of his brother overlaps with the girl’s own shriek.

Help. Help. Help…

HELP!

The cry replays over and over like a fractured chorus.

The king shuts his eyes and clutches his chest, each breath more ragged than the last. The traumatic sins of his past loom behind him like unwanted ghosts.

But…

Instead of pushing him down this time, they push him forward. A different but powerful sensation quells the apprehension in his heart. He notices offhandedly that he’s stopped shaking, and slowly, his hands clench into fists.

_“Farewell, your Majesty,” the Beast’s mocking voice tolls menacingly._

His eyes snap open, no longer trembling with crippling horror but with fierce anger.

“No, dammit…” the king hisses. “This isn’t goodbye. I won’t let you say goodbye. You’ve already taken my brother...”

The wind furiously bites at his skin like a rabid dog, yet its ferocity cannot surpass his own fury.

“But I’m not letting you near them, you bastard,” he snarls, his fangs bared. The winter air seems to thaw in response, even though his vow is not directed to the wind. Nonetheless, it hears his promise. More determined than ever, he stares in the direction the children have gone off.

And with that, the unseen guardian of the two children plunges into the sea of trees.

* * *

 

Long after he is gone, a single bluebird lands on a branch and glimpses down at the abandoned clearing before flying off.

And as the flutter of her wings dwindles away, so does a distorted and childish giggle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so the plot FINALLY starts to get a little more interesting.
> 
> Did you get intense feels? You can thank (and blame) my editor for making them worse than before. Speaking of which, huge thanks to my editor (kennathekat.tumblr.com) for helping me out!
> 
> I will do my best to get Chapter 3 out in a more timely manner, but I cannot make any guarantees. Check out my Tumblr (221bdisneystreet.tumblr.com) to stay updated!


	3. Don't Believe His Lies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [shows up on here one year too late with Starbucks in my hand] Listen, I can explain.
> 
> Ahh, I have to say sorry that this took much longer to update than expected! I was hoping I would get this out shortly after the Gravity Falls finale, but I realized how much more work I needed to do on my first draft of this chapter than I originally thought. Stress from life, school, and family and also writer's block didn't really help my case, either. Again, I'm so sorry this took so long, but hopefully what I've put out was worth the wait.
> 
> I want to thank @KennaKatsuji and @angstinspace for being such amazing betas! You two are awesome :') *dabs*

He has a really bad feeling about all of this. 

Maybe it’s just him, but save for his rapid-fire footsteps, it’s way too quiet to be considered natural.

Maybe it’s because of all the supernatural happenings that he’s experienced in the past like literally exploring the human mind, getting possessed by a maniacal dream demon, unearthing an interdimensional portal in a cabin basement, or surviving an apocalypse that made the sky bleed monsters and disastrously tore an entire town asunder, but the dread in his stomach is vaguely familiar.

And maybe it’s because of the current unpleasant situation, but the moonlight seems colder than before. More foreboding. More cruel.

More... _ evil _ .

Shivers skitter down his spine. He almost wishes the moon would disappear and blot out the hazy outlines of the crooked, inky branches that claw at him and his sister like wolves prowling within the shadowy gaps. The sight makes his legs tremble as his feet trample the snow. Behind him, as if absorbing some of his own apprehension, the girl curls her fingers tighter around his hand, her footsteps synchronized with his own.

Why he and his sister are running, he is not sure. What they may be fleeing from, he is not certain. Even though the scenery is far from comforting and the nagging suspicion in his brain keeps him vigilant and watchful, the reason eludes him. He does know one thing, though.

He wants to be out of this place, out of the forest, and back in the safety of his home. That one desire is what propels him to stomp one foot in front of the other. If not…

He doesn’t want to know what will happen if he stops.

As they charge through the woods, the boy’s quivering thumb flips the switch on his flashlight. Yet with each dull click, it emits nothing. How? What in the world is going on with this thing? He knows he fixed it befo—

“There is no escape!” A low voice cleaves through his thoughts like the blade of a guillotine. At the sound of devious cackling, the boy’s heart, already hammering at the speed of an erratic metronome, slams against his chest at full force. He squeezes the girl’s hand, perhaps even to the point of crushing it, but they need to go faster. Their speed, however, remains stagnant. Why are they running so slowly? They’re sixteen years old, surely still nimble enough to outrun whatever creature is chasing them.

So why aren’t they going any faster?

“G-get away! Leave us alone!” he spits out, although his anger fails to conceal his thinly-veiled fright. In vain, he tries to block out the recurrent laughter, shutting his eyes and hoping that whatever is pursuing them will leave. 

Them. 

_ Be! _

Just then, his foot slips on the slick sheet of ice underneath him.

The girl lets out a startled yelp as she tumbles behind him. The flashlight gives off a high-pitched clap, the flimsy plastic scraping against forest debris as it slides across the ground and into the shadows. The thud of his body crashing onto the ice and a sickening crack upon impact scratches against the boy’s ears in a dissonant harmony. He assumes the crack is just the ice splitting apart. But the twinge of pain, sharper than a knife, that impales his shoulder and shoots up his right arm proves him devastatingly wrong. He grits his teeth as he weakly staggers to his knees.

“Shit!” he groans.

He’s been thrown around before, shoved into the dirt, hurled against brick-hard trees, battered and bruised in high-speed monster truck collisions.

But never has the pain been this unbearable. 

His broken arm dangles, with gravity doing an infuriatingly impressive job of pulling it down like a magnet. His fractured bone shrieks and begs for the agony to stop, forcing him to attempt to brace the injury. The firm clasp on his wounded shoulder, however, only exacerbates the pain.

“Dipper! Help!” 

Jolted out of his distraction, the boy immediately looks behind to see the girl kicking her legs like a thrashing fly entangled in a spider’s web. Sprouting from the wall of darkness, a legion of serpentine branches crawls along the ice and stains the pristine surface with blood-like tracks of oil. They close in on her, madly frolicking around their victim as if she were an impending sacrifice for a witch’s ritual. Too stunned by the nightmare unfolding before him, the boy helplessly watches her struggle, outnumbered and defenseless as the branches snake around her ankles and up her legs.

Just as quickly, the branches freeze. 

Not daring to question the unexpected turn of events, the girl grunts as she pries off one of the many branches wreathed around her legs. The boy smiles, a faint spark of hope igniting in his brain. 

But an uproar of deranged chanting and shrill giggling pinches out that spark.

“FEED. FEED. FEED. FEED.”

Like chains hauling away a prisoner, the branches begin dragging the girl into the void. She whimpers and reaches out towards the boy, her distress nearly lost in the commotion, yet he still detects that sliver of her desperation floating in the ocean of cacophony.

“Mabel!” The boy grabs her outstretched hand, his nails anxiously digging into her skin. “Mabel, hold on! I got you!”

Despite the reassurance, he has been achingly aware of the truth the moment their fingers instantly begin to loosen.

And she knows it, too.

“Dipper! I-I can’t hang on much longer!” The boy’s blood chills at the sight of his sister’s face. 

She’s crying.

His sister, ever the undeniably confident and perky optimist, is crying. Sobbing, even. No matter how hard he clutches onto her, the effort is pointless, and she knows it. Something in the boy’s mind snaps as he recognizes the hopelessness, evident in her tear-stained eyes. That same hopelessness from four years ago, when she gazed at him and ran off in fear that they would never see each other again. That they would be separated.

Forever.

“You’re mine now!” The voice erupts, its volcanic intensity ripping through the fabric of twisted delight.

“Let go of my sister, you bastard!” the boy shouts. Undaunted by his rage, the screeching only escalates in volume, devouring every other insignificant noise.

“FEED! FEED! FEED! FEED!”

With a shocked gasp, his sister points to his neck with a quivering finger. 

Seemingly against his will, his own throat closes up as a branch constricts around it. As it slowly strangles the anger out of him, his head whirs with pulsating numbness. Smeared strokes of black frame the edges of his vision, the moonlit landscape flickering and popping like static on an old television screen. He carefully tries to bend his right arm, but at the first twitch, he croaks out a distressed moan as pain bites down in the crook of his elbow. Betraying his mental commands to move up to his neck, his arm refuses to budge any further. His mind teeters on the edge of consciousness, in imminent danger of tipping over this precarious cliff and plunging into a chasm of certain death. The impish laughter begins to fuse into a single chaotic symphony.

“She belongs to me!”

At that moment, the girl’s hand quickly slips out of the boy’s as the branches roughly pull her into the darkness’s cavernous mouth.

“Dipper!” The abyss drowns her out as it swallows her whole.

“Mabel!” He gags out her name as a hoarse and heartbroken plea before he finally rips the branch off of his neck. Freed from the suffocation, he coughs and wheezes, the oxygen rushing into his lungs in a disorienting yet refreshing return. Gulping air with unstable ease, he lunges forward.

But something instantly pulls him back down.

He can feel the pressure accumulating in his ankles as tendrils coil around them and tether him to the ground. He tugs uselessly and frantically like a dog trying to escape from its leash, his eyes darting uncontrollably from his restraints to the darkness in front of him.

_ Get up! You need to get up, idiot! _

One final scream mutes everything. 

_ Her  _ scream.

_ Nonononononono… _

“MABEL!” 

Something hits the ground. The boy’s heart nearly stops at the sight.

His sister’s arm pokes out of the darkness. The sleeve of her sweater is tattered, the fringes of ripped fabric encrusted in red. Her fingers twitch slowly before they fall, limp and unmoving.

Dead.

All the boy can do is gape at his sister. What is left of her.

“Wow, you’re pretty useless, aren’t ya?”

He whirls around to the familiar tone behind him. To his shock, his sister—no, his sister from four years ago—stands with her arms crossed, shaking her head in disappointment.

“M-mabel?” he stutters in disbelief. “What are you doing—”

“Tsk tsk. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised.” She casually strides towards the arm, her back facing the boy. “All you ever did was just mess up and make things worse.”

He can’t help but agree; it is as if this girl was speaking his own mind, voicing out loud his own subconscious thoughts and regrets. He always did screw things up.

“Mabel, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” he weeps, tears swelling up in his eyes.

“Too late, bro.” She disdainfully kicks the arm back into the dark as if it were a busted-up toy. “Now look. Older me’s gone.” She twirls around to face him. “Woosh. Zip.” She quickly draws her finger across her neck.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry…”

“Seriously, are you deaf or something?” She kneels down, glaring at the boy. “I said it’s too late. If you really did give a shit, you would have done a better job. You could’ve saved me. Just that one simple task. But you failed.” She bitterly spits the words out.

And he knows she’s right. He’s messed up again, but this time he can’t do anything to fix it.

“I tried, Mabel…” The boy clenches his fists and pounds them on the ice. “I really tried!”

“Should have tried harder if you really cared,” she scoffs, getting back on her feet. “None of your stupid apologies or excuses are gonna change anything now.” She walks past him in his huddled and quivering form. “You can never do anything right.”

She would not forgive him.

“Not even for her.”

Her footsteps fade as she laughs, the sound not cheerful and warm but cold and callous.

She would never forgive him.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

The branches slither up his legs, but at this point, he does not care. He cannot summon the will to fight and break free, to get back on his feet. He only has the strength to cry.

There is nothing he can do now.

“I’m sorry,” he hiccups feebly.

“Insolent brat,” the voice returns with a sneer.

The boy looks up to see a bloodthirsty smirk looming over him as spindly claws stretch out of the blackness. He catches the faint outlines of gnarled antlers and a bristling cloak.

“If you really wish to atone, there is but one way.”

_ Atone? _

“What is it? I-I’ll do anything…” 

The darkness opens its eyes, shining and white like its sinister grin.

“Give yourself up, and surrender to me. To my forest.”

_ Surrender…to the forest?  _

The glow of its eyes is peculiarly hypnotic, drawing in the boy’s gaze like the beacon of a lighthouse.

“Only death can free you from your burdens.”

Death. 

The word rings in his ears like a Siren’s call: tempting and pleasant yet deadly. But if death can truly release him from his guilt, if it can reunite him with his sister, if it can allow her to forgive him...

The branches wind around his torso and reach his neck.

“I...” 

“Yes?” The eyes glisten eagerly and hungrily.

The boy shuts his own eyes, ready to scream his final grief-stricken breath.

“I GIVE UP!”

* * *

The stillness is deafening.

She has never really loathed silence. Like in the shack’s attic when she and her brother would snuggle in their blankets and sleep soundly under the starlight that peeked through the windows. Or in the den when he would read another one of his science fiction novels and she would paste more photos and stickers onto another page of her scrapbook. Or in the sun-drenched forest when the two of them, secluded from the bustle of the town, would happily bask in the afternoon warmth and breathe in the scents of pine needles and dandelions.

Silence is not something she has hated. In fact, it is something that she has welcomed openly and taken comfort in many times, especially when her brother is with her to enjoy it.

Not this time, though.

The darkness is freezing and uninviting. Nothing stands with her except the trees, streaked with moonlight.

She is alone.

And she hates it.

“Dipper? Dipper, where are you?!”

Only the echoes of her panicked yells answer her. The trees tremble as if the echoes are enough to rouse them from their slumber. The lonely girl wraps her arms tightly around her chest, shivering with them. Without her brother, the forest feels so much colder.

“Dipper!”

She coughs as the frigid air grates against her throat, crumpling her voice like a discarded sheet of paper. Her brother is not the type to just disappear on her without warning. Well, at least not intentionally. For a split second, she wonders if he is in danger but hastily tosses out that possibility. She does not want to even consider such a foreboding thought...yet.

_ He’s fine. He has to be. _

She inhales deeply, hurriedly piecing together hopeful thoughts. Maybe he is looking for her also. Maybe he will eventually hear her shouts.

Maybe.

“Dipper! Can you hear me?!”

A breeze whips past her, flicking her hair into her eyes and mouth. Sputtering, she swipes the strands away. Just then, the snap of a twig perks her ears up. From the corner of her eye, something darts behind the trees. She twists around, her heart fluttering with the slightest hint of relief and hope. 

“Dipper, is that you? Don’t scare me like—”

A heavy creaking from above interrupts her and sends a chill through her body. She stares up in terror as the skeletal limbs of the trees, awakened from their sleep, extend into the sky as if they’re trying to touch the moon. They weave together above her like intertwined fingers, splitting the prism of moonlight into scattered puddles reflecting in the snow. The girl cowers like a cornered rabbit in a metal cage. There’s nowhere for her to go. And even if there is, she can’t leave.

Not without her brother.

“Poor child.” A silky, malevolent chuckle shatters the silence. Unnerved, the girl flinches. “Your brother’s abandoned you.”

_ Dipper? Abandon… _

The word catches in her throat. She cannot believe he would ever do such a thing. He has always stuck with her through the good and the bad. She knows he would never want to leave her, no matter what.

...Right?

_ He might, Mabel. Remember when he wanted to stay in Gravity Falls and was almost ready to leave you back at home without any friends? When he thought only of himself and didn’t think about you in your time of need? He was so selfish then, and he still is now. He’s gone and left you alone. Only caring about his own survival and not giving a shit about your life. And now karma’s caught up to _ —

She squishes the traitorous thoughts down with all the vigor of a rampaging bull. 

“N-no,” the girl stutters. “Y-you’re lying!”

Almost impressed by her apparent courage, the unseen presence laughs again, its voice dripping with a revolting sweetness like poisoned honey. “Am I really?” 

Something from behind tickles the girl’s neck. Despite her mind pleading to not look back, her body, overcome with curiosity, refuses to listen. She twists around, hoping her imagination is simply going haywire from her anxiety.

The body levitating in front of her, however, is very much real.

She screams and stumbles backwards, clasping her chest. The disembodied corpse swings loosely, knitted in a cocoon of branches. Its head sags to the side, a lone twig roped around its neck. The vines binding its wrists raise its arms like a toymaker pulling the strings of an aged puppet. As the traumatized girl meets its lifeless eyes, she chokes out that familiar name. 

“D-Dipper?”

Despite the swarm of branches eclipsing much of its sallow face and the dullness in its sunken eyes, the girl cannot deny the body’s striking resemblance to her brother. But is it really him?

No. That’s ridiculous.

She scowls, “This is just some stupid prank! He’s not—”

The boy’s head slowly straightens up. The girl’s heart nearly stops.

“Do you think this is just a game, child?” the voice croons, this time from the undead boy’s lips. Any semblance of color lingering in his pupils has melted into blazing, hollow white.

“This is no petty illusion. This is the truth, right before your eyes.”

Enraged and frightened, the girl clenches her hands into shaky fists, trying stubbornly to refuse this reality. The boy’s mouth contorts into a psychotic smirk. “Your brother knew of this, after all—”

“You leave my brother alone, you son of a bitch!” the girl screams, scrambling to her feet. She lunges forward, grabbing onto the single branch looped around the boy’s neck. “Don’t worry, Dipper! I’ll get you out of here!” 

With a grunt, she tears it off, but it immediately crumbles in her palm. Shocked, she watches the pieces sift through her fingers like sand. “W-what the—”

A hand seizes her arm. Her brother’s hand.

“Hey! Let me go!” 

As the chill of his hand slowly seeps into her skin, she finds it increasingly difficult to wrestle out of his grasp.

“He has met his fate!” The forest echoes around her.

The boy’s fingers morph into shadowy, needle-like claws, and the branches wrapped around his head sprout out and twist into taut, braided shapes like the antlers of an evil deer. The ghostly eyes and grin, however, still remain. The ink-black branches around his body coil tighter, melding together until he is just a mass of darkness, humanoid yet bestial and clothed in leaves.

“He has gone to where he truly belongs!”

As the shadow tightens its steel embrace, its smile widens, and the eyes glint with a trace of insatiable thirst.

“And so will you!” It roars, causing the horrified girl to falter.

As the claws slice through her sleeve and sink into her skin, tendrils bud from the gashes and wind up her arm. She shrieks, breaking off the branches in spite of the prickling sensations of pain that follow. Still, they squirm out from her torn sleeve, their roots burying themselves into her flesh and feeding off of her blood like leeches. The claws dig deeper, gouging her like a thousand syringes slowly and meticulously shredding into her arm. She winces.

“Let go of me!”

The shadow merely cackles like a sadistic child deliberately plucking off the wings of a wriggling, pinned butterfly.

“Deceived so easily by a worthless hope...”

“Shut up!” The girl hisses through clenched teeth.

“Such meaningless words for one so bold and daring.”

“SHUT UP!” The girl explodes, her anger breaking through her hurt. In a moment of recklessness, she swings her fist at the shadow.

Only for her to punch at emptiness as the face dissipates through her fist like smoke.

Thrown off-guard, the girl gasps as she wobbles unsteadily, but the claws holding her arm keep her balanced.

“My, my. Even now, a young spirit like you still has some fight left?” The faceless voice purrs with amusement. Behind her, another hand gently pets her shoulder, her blood chilling at its spider-like touch. “Hmph. Stubbornness will get you nowhere.”

With one swift and effortless motion, the claws twist her arm, and a disgusting snap pierces her ears. 

She screams. The claws still twist her arm more. Another crack sets it aflame with searing pain, and she feels as if she is burning alive from the inside. 

“S-stop it! Please!” she pleads, tears spilling from her eyes and heavy sobs clogging her throat. 

The claws release their grasp on her. She topples facedown to the ground, her wound stinging painfully upon contact with the snow. Biting her lip to stifle a loud wail, she rolls to her side and curls up into a ball, tightly clutching her mutilated arm and hugging it close to her chest. She can feel blood trickling between her fingers and, even through blurred vision, can see more branches poking out from under her hand and weaving up to her shoulder. Unbearable, gnashing pain still licks her arm like a forest fire, incinerating any remaining bits of resolve she has left.

Like her arm, her mind is broken.

“It hurts…! IT HURTS!”

All she can do is beg.

“Make it stop! Please!”

The glowing smirk and eerie eyes rematerialize.

“Then you must succumb.”

Succumb. 

Despite the word’s sharp blow in her ears, it becomes strangely alluring and pleasing to her, as if she has taken her first sip of scalding yet sweet tea. Can she really trust this creature now, this monster who has only brought her pain? She really shouldn’t have to second guess herself, but…

The girl hesitates, blinking up at the face hovering above her.

“W-what?”

“If you really want this to end,” the voice croons, “then you need to accept the forest.”

She looks back down at her bloodied arm. 

“Will it really—”

“Trust in me, my dear. Your brother did, after all.” 

Her brother?

“The trees took him in when he wept in pain. Pain that you too can escape from. They called for him...”

_ Call for him? _

“Just like how they call for you.”

Another icy breeze makes the trees shiver.

“Do you hear them? Beckoning for you in your despair?”

The tiny voice in her head urges her to block out all noise, but the trees’ groans smother it. Amidst the crowd of sounds, she can make out a few words.

**_Come..._ **

“Listen to them, my dear.”

**_To us..._ **

“They will ease your suffering. They will give you what you truly desire.”

_ Desire? _

She sucks in her breath before she can ask, “Can they let me see Dipper again?”

The words are stitched together into a coherent whole.

**_Come to us..._ **

“Only if you submit will you know...”

As cryptic as the message is, the girl feels a sense of reassurance and relaxes. She wants the pain to end. She just wants it all to be over, to disappear from this hellscape.

Hidden among the whispers of the forest, another voice, familiar and warm, slowly rises like a dove among ravens.

**_Come home..._ **

But most importantly, she just wants to be with her brother. 

“Submit…” she whispers the word like a prayer. Her arm starts to become numb.

He’s gone, wherever he is. Without her...

“Yes, my child,” the shadow hums with twisted satisfaction. Cupping her face with its cold and snaking claws, it slowly lifts her chin and strokes her cheek. Its eyes now shine brilliantly with rings of rainbow hues. Entranced, the girl gazes into them. “The trees are waiting for you...”

The familiar voice speaks again, this time more clearly.

**_Come back..._ **

“See you...soon...” the girl murmurs. The branches travel up to her neck and tickle her chin. An unsettling ease erases her thoughts away, her mind becoming a blank slate.

**_Mabel..._ **

She won’t let him be alone again.

“Dipper…”

* * *

But the words are caught in his throat.

In place of his own inaudible scream, a ferocious bellow of pain thunders loudly. It drowns out his despair; the torment embedded within the sound is almost tangible.

The boy opens his eyes and stares up to see the shadow writhing violently like a harpooned shark washed ashore. Another figure, a pointed silhouette, crouches aggressively between the two. A brilliant light glares behind the shadow, nearly blinding the boy.

“W-what...the hell?!” He stammers, too dumbfounded to notice the branches wrapped around him wilting and snapping off into fragments. Too dumbfounded to wonder where the light is coming from.

And definitely too dumbfounded to realize the fissures forming in the ice.

“Who are you?!” he shouts.

When the stranger turns around, the boy catches a glimpse of something fluttering like a cape. But before he can get a good look at the face masked by the night, the ice cracks underneath him.

He plunges.

And the world above becomes a distorted blur.

He blinks as water flushes into his eyes and streams into his lungs, the cold stealing away every trickle of air. Bubbles rise from his mouth as he struggles to breathe, his gurgled cries tearing into his throat. Even as he weakly swings his arms and legs in a frantic effort to swim to the surface, his body sinks deeper and refuses to float up.

“You cannot get away for long, fool! I will soon take what is mine!” Even as the boy falls underwater, the voice, although garbled with pain, roars with vicious wrath. His ears ache as the foreboding words fade into an echo, but he continues flailing madly in the water. 

_ Shit. Shit! SHIT! _

His vision starts to darken, the world beyond the surface dissolving into pitch-black. His chest tightens, ready to burst like an overinflated balloon.

“Shh, it’s okay…” an unfamiliar voice, this one soothing and gentle, whispers. The sound is as clear as a lone bluebird’s melody.

_ Huh? _

Somehow, air flows into his lungs, every single drop of water draining away. He can breathe again. His body slows down in its descent, and his hands swipe at empty space. As a wave of calm washes over his desperation, he shuts his eyes.

“You’ll be safe now…”

He stops moving.

* * *

Just then, a wounded howl snaps the girl out of her trance.

“Huh?!” she exclaims. The branches unfurl as the shadow retreats its claws away from her as if it has been electrocuted. With her mind reeling back into reality, she blinks, struggling to readjust her disoriented vision. She thinks she can see the blurred form of another figure guarding her, but it is hard for her to quickly piece together a clear picture.

“To think you would actually dare!” The shadow’s voice warbles with furious disbelief and dampened resentment like the swansong of a dying nightingale. An unfamiliar growl rips through her ears. A sharp throb of pain pierces her bloodied arm, and she hisses, “Ngh, shit!”

Strangely enough, even through the pain, she is aware of something gentle wrapping itself around her. She briefly feels the pull of gravity, but that falls away with the last remains of wilting branches. Wind rushes past her and the trees zoom past too quickly for her to catch a clear view of the dark scenery, and she realizes that the stranger is carrying her away from wherever they were.

The skeletal branches from above retreat and clatter back to normal, uncovering plain and worthless trees. The darkness begins to drip around them, pelting the snow from above like a raining tragedy. Despite its beauty, the scene feels as thick and black as oil, ready to consume the world. The moon begins to quiver and unravel, forming a path of quiet luminescence below them that twists and reaches up towards a point of light high in the sky. Admittedly, the world feels like it is straight out of a bleak fairytale, breathtaking yet haunting and uncertain in its ending.

“You aren't going anywhere, child!” the voice seethes, its threat rumbling in her ears. The girl peeks to look behind her and the mysterious figure, but the pitch-black rain really has engulfed the world. She cannot see anything, yet she can’t help but feel paranoid that the shadow may be nearby, that it may devour her before the rain can.

She asks frantically, “W-where are we going?!” Not even the soft, comforting moonlight nor the warmth of the stranger’s arms cradling her could alleviate the terror. “D-do you know the way back to the Mystery Shack?”

Her question passes by unanswered, and she sneaks another fearful glance behind her. This time, she sees its disembodied eyes, wide and vengeful, flashing from afar like kaleidoscopic lightning. She squeaks out a terrified whine as she struggles to pull her sweater’s collar over her eyes with her good hand, even as the two of them continue on.

_ Back to Sweater Town, Mabel. Back to Sweater Town… _

It has been a long time since she used this peculiar coping mechanism. From what she remembered, the last time she did this was that horrific summer day four years ago.

**The treetops match the blood-red hues of the sunset sky. She sniffles, “I just wish that summer can last forever…”**

_ This isn’t real! _

The corpse entangled in branches, the shadow disguised as death, the forest crumbling to nothing, the pain and the blood…

_ None of this is real!  _

She hates this.

**The dark and starry cloud, trapped in the cracked glass orb, mesmerizes her, swirling like a miniature galaxy. With an uneasy yet hopeful twinkle in her eye, she whispers, “Just a little more summer…”**

She hates that day too.

**Her eyes widen in horror as the man smashes the orb with his foot like a hunter crushing a snake’s head under his heel. The trees shudder from the force of the howling wind and his twisted cackling. His demonic golden eyes stare into her own.**

That day when the trees also crackled with sickening evil. That day when the world plunged into chaos, nearly crumbling into nothing.

“ **I think I’m gonna kill one of ‘em now just for the heck of it!” Even as she struggles to escape, her mind is overwhelmed with fear. Fear that** **_he_ ** **may be the chosen victim.**

And that day when she also thought she would lose her brother forever.

“ **You’re the only person I can count on, and now** **_you’re_ ** **leaving me, too?!”**

She cannot block out that day, disjointed fragments of that memory cleaving deep into her fear.

_ I just want to go home! _

“You won’t escape from me!”            

A sharp sound, almost like that of a blade piercing through a beating heart, cuts through the air. It stops all movement and silences the forest, but more importantly, the stranger’s rhythmic breathing.

She can feel a thick substance splatter onto her sweater, the moist patches of fabric sticking to her stomach. A subdued yet gruesome noise, one that she has trouble distinguishing between choking or gurgling, scrapes in her ears and nearly stops her heart.

She should know the first time around what  _ not _ to do.

_ Don’t look up. Whatever you do, don’t look— _

Too late.

Curiosity takes control of her body again, and she quickly tugs her collar back down.

She regrets it again. 

She should have known.

A rotting branch speared through the stranger’s chest barely grazes her own bloody arm, and like morning dew on grass blades, beads of oil and blood drip from the limb’s jagged tip.

No matter how much she wants to scream, the girl’s terror remains lodged in her throat.

“I-it’s okay…” Another voice rasps out. Despite the fading moonlit path, she catches a glimpse of the strained, wistful smile on the stranger’s face. She can feel the hold around her slowly loosening. On impulse, she looks down. The ground is feet—no, yards—below her, and her heartbeat quickens again. 

_ Shit! Nononono! _

One last cackle, very near and very loud, echoes from behind them.

“I won’t let you end up like him…”

_ Him? Who— _

The stranger releases her. 

From the moonlit path, she falls into the endless pit of darkness, a startled cry spilling from her lips. 

And a furious roar of defeat booms from above.

* * *

When his thoughts manage to coalesce again, he is still floating.

_ Am I dead? _

“...up!”

An inaudible sound buzzes in his ears, almost like an annoying gnat.

“...ipper!”

It slowly grows clearer.

“Dipper!”

The worrisome tone starts to sound all too familiar.

“Please! You have to get up! Dipper!”

He remembers who it belongs to.

“Dipper, wake up!”

His eyes snap open, and he gasps as daylight pours in.

“Mabel!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter!! But I do have important news.
> 
> Unfortunately, I will be putting this fic on hiatus for two reasons. I still have two months left of school and will need to start working on my senior thesis, so I will be putting in more time these next couple months to finish off my school year strong. The second reason is that admittedly, I have had new ideas for this fic come up in the year it took me to work on this latest chapter, and I also realized how much more outlining I need to do. So I will need to spend a lot of time to properly plan out the rest of this fic. Once that is all figured out, chapter 4 will be my next priority; however, I can't make any guarantees that this process will be relatively short. I know this is probably a bit unfair considering how long it took me to update this fic, but this is the best course of action for me to currently take.
> 
> I do have some good news though! I do have other WIPs in the process that I will publish while working on this fic at the same time. That way, you guys will still be getting more stories from me during this fic's hiatus. So be on the look out for any future fics from me and check out my tumblr @221bdisneystreet or my twitter @mirmirthepanda for any updates!


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